Trash compacting apparatus



United States Patent Inventor Carl S. Vollmer 404 N St. SW., Washington, D.C. 20024 Appl. No. 808,212 Filed March 18,1969 Patented Sept. 8, 1970 TRASH COMPACTING APPARATUS 3 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

U.S. CI 100/218, 100/250 lnt. Cl 83% 15/32 Field of Search 100/218,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,669,065 2/1954 Clegg 100/218(UX) 2,698,500 1/1955 Clegg 100/249X 3,253,537 5/1966 Porter et al.. l00/2l8X 3,274,922 9/1966 Hefner 100/2 |8X 3,385,208 5/1968 Clegg lO0/250X Primary ExaminerBilly .I. Wilhite Anomey- Kemon, Palmer and Estabrook ABSTRACT: A trash compacting apparatus is disclosed which includes an elongated cylindrical housing with a piston reciprocably mounted therein, the housing having a loading port intermediate its ends and a pivoted end closure for removal of compacted material.

Patented Sept. 8, 1970 INVENTOR S. VOLLMER CARL TRASH COMPACTING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The reduction in volume of trash collected in apartment buildings, office buildings, stores, and the like has become an economic necessity. Compacting apparatus forming an integral part of trash-collecting vehicles has been, and is being, used but the equipment is expensive both from the standpoint of initial cost and maintenance. It would be highly desirable to provide compaction apparatus which can conveniently be housed in the buildings and such apparatus would have the following advantages.

l. A storage space for trash between collections could be held to a minimum.

2. The collection vehicles could be simple trucks requiring no special equipment.

3. The maintenance of the compaction apparatus would be reduced to a minimum due to its fixed installation.

4. incinerators could be dispensed with, thus decreasing air pollution.

5. The frequency of collection would be reduced or the number of buildings served by a single collection truck greatly increased, or both.

Apparatus of this general type is known and one example may be found in the U.S. Pat. No. to Porter et al. 3,253,537.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The apparatus of the present invention is similar to, but constitutes an improvement upon, the apparatus shown in the above-mentioned U.S. patent. An end closure for the compacting chamber is provided which is pivotally mounted to the side walls of the chamber and by means ofa hydraulic connection the closure may be pivoted clear of the discharge from the chamber and then returned to a closure position against which the trash may be compacted.

BRiElF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FlG. l is a side elevation partly in section ofa preferred embodiment'of trash compacting apparatus in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 1?; is an enlarged view of the right hand portion of FIG. l but with the closure in closed position; and

Fit]. 3 is a view on the lines 3-3 ofFIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus of the present invention is very simple and includes an elongated cylindrical housing having a piston l2 reciprocably mounted therein. The housing includes a loading port 14 which is positioned between the retracted position of the piston 12 as shown in this figure and the end of the housing 10 toward which the piston moves when compacting trash. As in the aforementioned U.S. patent, an hydraulic cylinder 16 interconnects the piston 12 and the closed end ofthe housing 10 for actuating the piston.

That end ofthe housing I0 against which trash is compacted by the piston l2 must be removable in order to permit discharge of the compacted trash. The removable closure must, of course, be sufficiently Strong to withstand the repeated action ofthe piston 12 in forcing trash thereagainst and yet it must be readily removable. A preferred form of pivotally mounted closure member is shown in these FIGS. Basically the closure is a circular plate 18 rigidly connected to a pair of arms 20 and 22 which in turn are pivotally connected preferably at substantially the midpoint of the housing 10 and on opposite sides thereof. The upper portion of the plate 18 has attached thereto, or integral therewith, a semi-cylindrical flange 24 which acts as a limit stop for the closure in its closed position by engaging with the upper peripheral surface of the end ofthe housing 10.

In order to permit pivotal movement of the closure between closed and open positions, it of course was necessary to con tour the upper end portion of the housing 10 so that it would conform to the surface of a cylinder, the axis of which coincides substantially with the pivotal axis of the closure. It was found, however, that while contouring of the housing [0 would permit pivotal movement of the closure so long as no trash had been compacted against it, that the closure would not pivot once trash had been compacted against it even with the piston withdrawn to the position shown in FIG. 1. Apparently, the compacted trash would jam in the space between the contoured end of the housing and the closure and prevent movement of the closure from closed to open position. Surprisingly, the addition of a wedge-like body of material shown in FIG. 2 at 26 and which wedge conforms on its outer surface to the contour of the uppermost portion of the housing 10 completely alleviated this problem and permits easy opening of the closure under conditions corresponding to a heavy compaction of trash thereagainst.

In order to facilitate opening and closing of the compacting chamber, a second hydraulic cylinder 28 is connected between a lug 30 which is rigidly secured to one of the pivot arms 22 and a bracket 32 rigidly connected to the side wall of the housing. Since a source of hydraulic pressure is necessary to operate the piston 12, it becomes a simple matter to connect the cylinder 28 to the same source and with the addition of a second control valve arrangement, the two may be independently operated from the same source of pressure.

Preferably the diameter of the housing 10 and the length of the compacting chamber between the end of the loading port 14 and the pivotal closure is selected so that the amount of trash issuing in compacted form is ofa size and weight that can easily be handled by one person. The compacted trash may be either bagged in conventional burlap bags or in plastic or metallic trash receptacles of standard size. In the case of burlap or plastic bags, such bags may be placed over the end of the housing 10 with the closure in raised position and then the closure may be lowered to closed position shown in FIG. 2 and trash may be loaded in the port 14 and compacted by operating the piston 12. The operator need then only raise the closure to the position shown in FIG. 1 and then again actuate the piston 12 to load the compacted trash into the bag where it can easily be handled by one person and stacked in a storage area for future collection. Although a metallic or plastic trash can may also be placed over the end of the housing, obviously the pivoted closure cannot be closed over such a container. Trash is therefore compacted against the closure in its closed position, the closure is then pivoted to the position shown in FIG. 1, the receptacle is placed over the end of the housing and the piston again actuated to empty the compacting chamber into the receptacle.

I claim:

1. Trash compacting apparatus comprising in combination:

an elongated cylindrical housing having a loading port inter mediate its ends;

a piston mounted for reciprocation within said housing from a first position between said port and one end of said housing and a second position adjacent the opposite end of said housing so that trash to be compacted can be loaded through said port when said piston is in said first position;

means for positively reciprocating said piston between said position;

a pivotal closure for said opposite end of said housing;

a pair of arms rigidly connected at one end to said closure and pivotally connected at their other ends to opposite sides of said housing;

means for pivoting said closure and arms between a first position wherein said closure is positioned entirely radially outwardly of the outer surface of said housing and a second position closing said opposite end of said housing; and

said opposite end of said housing being shaped from its mid line to its upper surface to conform substantially to the surface of a cylinder, the axis of which is transverse to the axis of said housing and which axis passes substantially through the points of pivotal connection of said arms to said housing, said closure having its inner surface shaped to conform to the shape of said opposite end of said husing.

2. Apparatus as defined by claim 1 in which said piston and 

